This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

KANSAS CITY, KAN.—Matt Kenseth knew that he had a frontrunning car Sunday.

It was just a matter of getting there.

So when a caution flag came out with several leaders on pit road, and Kenseth found himself leading the pack into the pits, he had a feeling things were going his way at Kansas Speedway.

“That was the key,” he would say later.

Kenseth won the race off pit road after taking two tires under caution with 47 laps to go, and a No. 20 Toyota that had been strong all day slowly pulled away. Kasey Kahne trimmed into the lead once he moved into second, but Kenseth managed to block every move he tried to make.

Article Continued Below

Kahne pulled alongside him entering turn four with the white flag flying, but Kenseth pulled back ahead along the front stretch and then cruised across the finish line for the win.

“When it was in front, we knew it was really fast,” Kenseth said after his second straight win at Kansas, “and if we could get out there first, we’d be tough to beat.”

It was the third straight win from the pole in the Sprint Cup series. Jimmie Johnson did it two weeks ago at Martinsville, and Kyle Busch did the same last weekend at Texas. The last time three straight winners came from the pole was in 1985, when Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt combined to do it at Michigan, Bristol and Darlington.

Points leader Johnson finished third with a car that kept getting better during long, green flag runs. Martin Truex Jr. came home in fourth and Clint Bowyer was fifth.

Brad Keselowski put a positive spin on an ugly week for Penske Racing. Keselowski picked up some minor damage to the rear of his car on the first lap of the race, and fell a lap down when he was slow getting off pit road under caution. The damage kept getting worse as the laps ticked along, and eventually a huge piece of his rear end ripped off.

The No. 2 team managed to get it repaired, and Keselowski slowly picked off positions in the waning laps, finishing a heartening sixth after a frustrating week.

Penske Racing is appealing heavy sanctions handed down by NASCAR after an unapproved rear-end housing was found on its two cars last week at Texas. The penalties include six-race suspensions for seven-crew members, including both crew chiefs, $200,000 in fines and 25-point penalties.

The date of the appeal hasn’t been set, allowing both teams to arrive in full at Kansas.

Logano didn’t have nearly as good of an afternoon. He was struggling to find speed when Busch got in trouble along the wall, shot down to the apron of the track and smacked into his No. 22 Ford in a devastating head-to-head collision. The wreck knocked both cars out of the race and left debris scattered all over the asphalt.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spent most of the afternoon running at the front, with Kenseth chasing the No. 17 Ford that he drove to victory last year at the newly resurfaced Kansas Speedway.

Stenhouse was among several leading drivers, including Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle, who were forced to pit under green with about 50 laps to go. They were just getting back onto the track when the rear bumper on Keselowski’s car that had been hanging on by a thread finally came loose.

The metal chattered across the track and brought out a caution.

Kenseth beat Truex in the race off pit road — critical at Kansas, where a second groove didn’t start to round into shape until late in the race. Kahne had them both in his sights, but by the time he moved into second place, Kenseth had more than a full second on the field.

Kahne, trying for his first win at Kansas, pulled within a car length with about seven laps left, only to slip backward. He took advantage of lapped traffic to make another charge with two laps remaining, but he couldn’t make it stick on the low side and Kenseth pulled clear.

He crossed the finish line as his crew poured over the pit wall to celebrate.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com